DASYGLOIA amorpha.
I r r e g u l a r D a s y g lo ia .
CR YPTO G AMI A Algce,
Gen. Char. Gelatinous, amorphous. S h e a th s of filaments,
which are slightly branched, thick, mucous,
cohering. E n d o c h r o m e annulated.
Spec. Char........................
T h e genus Dasygloia, founded upon the above species, has
many points of resemblance with Ccenocoleus, but differs in the
mucous sheaths of its filaments coalescing, like those of a Ei-
vularia, to form a solid gelatinous mass. In the species under
consideration, the filaments, quite at the base of the plant, have
rather a membranous than gelatinous sheath, and closely resemble
those of a Lyngbya, in consequence of which the base
of the mass is green; but in the centre of the plant each filament
is furnished with a very thick colourless gelatinous sheath
which is firmly coherent with those in contact with it. Towards
the periphery of the plant these sheaths assume a brown
colour, and become somewhat separate and distinct, rendering
the surface shaggy, as shown in the accompanying figure a.
Occasionally the tips of the filaments are wound spirally round
the portion immediately beneath them. The discoverer of
this interesting species, the Rev. W. Smith of Wareham,
remarks that it occurs, mixed with the Ccenocoleus Smithii, in
a bog on Corfe Castle Moor, and that the plant is usually
about the size of a swan’s egg.—G. H. K. T.
Fig b. represents a portion of the endochrome more highly
magnified than the other figures.